Brake mechanism for phonographs.



P. S. DUFFY.

BRAKE MECHANISM FOR PHONOGRAPHS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 9. 9X6.

Patented J an. 21, 1919.

2 SHEETS--SHEET 1.

P. S. DUFFY.

BRAKE MECHANISM FOR PHONQGRAPHS.

APPLICATION HLED lune 9.19m.

11,291,796. Patented Jan. 21, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PETER S.'DUFFY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO THE BELL TALKINGMACHINE- 1 conrom'rron, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

BRAKE MECHANISM FOR PHONOGR APHS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 21, 1919.

Application filed J une 9, 1918. Serial No. 102,608.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, PETER S. DUFFY, acitizenof the United States, residing at New York, in the county of New Yorkand State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Brake- Mechanism for Phonographs, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to improvements in phonographs or talkingmachines, and more particularly to the brake mechanism thereof, theobject of the invention being to provide improved means forautomatically releasing and setting the brake on the movement of thetone arm in one direction or the other, and means for permitting theadjustment of the brake-setting means to different sizes of records. M

A further object of the invention is the provision of improved means formanually operating the brake setting means from the outside of thephonograph cabinet.

In the drawings accompanyin and forming part of this specification,Figure 1 is a perspective view of so much of a talking machine as isnecessary to illustrate the improvement, part of the turntable andrecord being broken away; Fig. 2 is a detail perspective view of thebrake mechanism, show ing the brake in its set position and ready to bereleased; Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view of Fig. 4, but showing thebrake in engagement with the flange of the turntable; and Fig. 4 is aplan view of the talking machine, showing the brake mechanism in dottedlines with the brake released from engagement with the turntable.

Similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in thediflerent figures of the drawings.

'The cabinet 2 is of the usual construction, having a flanged turntable3 secured to and rotatable with an upright shaft 4 located centrally ofthe cabinet and operated from a motor.

The brake mechanism in the present instance consists of a base plate 5secured to the platform 6 beneath the turntable. On the plate 5 isslidably mounted a second plate 7, having one end bent up at rightangles, as at 8, and carrying a piece of fibrous material 9 adapted toengage the inside of the flange of the turntable. The opposite end ofthe slidable plate 7 is so shaped as to form one member of a dog orclutch, as shown at 10, Fig. 2. In the present instance this plate isshown slotted longitudinally thereof and is retained on the base plate 5by means of a pair of pins assing through said slot and secured in theliase plate, sa1d pins being providedwith enlarged heads or disks 11,whereby the plate 7 is permitted to slide on the plate 5. One of thepins is extended on the upper side of its diskll to form a projection12, to which is attached one end of a helical spring 13, the oppositeend of which is connected to a pin 14 secured in the plate 7 near theclutch formed end thereof, whereby the slide plate 7 is maintained inits normal position under tension of the spring 13. A cooperating clutchmember 15 is pivotally mounted by means of a headed pin 16 on the baseplate 5 in position to engage the clutch member 10 on the Operation ofthe sliding plate toward the clutch member 15.

Pivotally mounted on a bracket 17 secured to the platform 6 is abell-crank lever 18, one arm of which is provided at its end with anupturned finger 19 and the other arm 23 extends toward the base plate 5.A link 20,' pivotally mounted on the bracket 17, preferably by means ofthe same pivot on which the bell-crank lever 18 is mounted, has at itsopposite end a slot 21 through which the pin 14 in the sliding plate 7projects, and a helical spring 22 connects this.

link 20 with the arm 23 of the bell-crank lever so that when the leveris operated the link 20 will move therewith and, through the medium ofthe slot and pin connection 14 and 21, the sliding plate 7 will be movedagainst the action of its spring so as to bring the clutch members 10and 15 into engagement, thereby to lock the brake out of engagement withthe flange of the turntable. The end of the arm 23 is held sufficientlyfar in advance of the link 20 to maintain the spring 22 always undertension, and this is accomplished in the present instance by means of alug 24 shown as punched up from the link 20.

The brake-setting mechanism comprises a lever 25 connected by a pin 26with one end of the clutch member 15, the pin 26 projecting through saidclutch member into a transverse slot in the base plate 5, as shown indotted lines 26' in Fig. 2, so as to limit the ivotal Ina-Vesta of" saidclutch mem ber 15. The lever is also connected with the clutch member 15by a helical spring 27, whereby the clutch member is maintained inposition toengagethe companion clutch member 10. Pivotally connected tothe link 25, at one end thereof, is a link 28 which is pivot-allysecured at its opposite end to a bracket or' clamp 29 mounted on theplatform 6. A washer 29' is located between the bracket and the end ofthe link 28. By means of-the same pivot there is also pivotally secured,in frictional engagement with the link 28, a lever 30 provided at itsfree end with a trip. finger 31 bent at right angles thereto.v

For automatically operating the brake with the finger 31 and operate thebrakesetting mechanism on the movement of the tone arm in the oppositedirection.

The operation of the improved brake mechanism is as follows: With thepartsin the position shown in Fig. 2; the brake is i-n its set position,that is the position it will occupy when in engagement with theturntable, the arm 33 of the tonearm being in contact with the tripfinger 19 of the releasing mechanism. Upon moving the tone arm to theright so' as to start the machine,- the arm 33, through the medium ofthe trip fin ger 19, operates the bell-crank lever 18 and link 20,thereby releasing the brake and causing tlie'plate 7 to slide toward theclutch member 15, and-as soon as the two beveled faces of the clutchmembers come in contact the clutch member 10' will act asa cam to swingthe clutch member 15 on its pivot until the cam face of the slidingclutch member has passed the cam face of the clutch member 15, whereuponthe action of the spring 27 will cause the two clutch members to becomeengaged and-thus hold the brake out'of engagement with the turntable. Assoon as the tone arm has traveled across the record and completedplaying the piece, the arm 33 comes in contact with the trip finger 31and,

through the medium of the link 28,'operates the: lever 25 so as to pullonthe rear'end of the clutch member 15 thereby to swing said clutchmember on its pivot and release the clutch members from engagement,whereupon, by the action of the spring 13, thesliding clutch member willbe pulled backward so as to cause the brake 9 to engage the turntableand thereby stop'therotation thereof.

llhe adjustment'ofthe deviceto records of brake.

different sizes is permitted; by reason of the fact that the lever 30 ismade as a separate piece from the link 28 and held in frictional contacttherewith, so -that this-lever maybe moved tothe leftorright-as occasionmay require to bring its tri finger 31 in proper position'to be"engagedby the arm 33 at the end of the record regardless of what the size ofthe record may be, the frictional contact betweenthe lever30 and link 28being sufiicient to maintain the parts in proper relation for operatingthe. brake-releasing imejcha nism. Y

For permitting the operation of the brakesetting mechanism from theoutside of the cabinet, I have providedthe lever 25 with an extension 10bent at an angle to the main portion of the lever, to which extension isyoked, as at 41, one. endof a push rod 42, the opposite end ofwhichextends through the front wall, of the cabinet and is provided with anenlarged head i3 for manually operating the push rod and thereby settingthe It will thus be seen that should'it be desired tointerrupt theplaying of a record this may be done without raising the top of thecabinet and without waitingfor the arm i 33 of the tone arm toautomatically trip the finger 31, by merely giving the rod a slightpush, whereupon the lever, throughthe medium of the extension 40, willoperate to swing the dog 15 on its pivot in the same manner as-whenoperated by the movement of the tone arm; This improvement, therefore,provides a brake mechanism having means adapted to be automatically andmanually operated to set the brake, and automatically operative meansfor releasing the brake, the manually operating means being operablefrom the outside of the cabinet and the automatically operativebrake-setting means being adjustable so as to make it equally operativewith records of different diameters. I r I It will, of course,- beunderstood that the details of construction and combinations of partsmay be considerably varied without departing from the spirit and scopeof this invention. I claim as my invention: a

1. In a phonograph the combination of a cabinet, a brake, automaticallyoperative means for setting said brake on the movement of a part of saidphonograph, automatically operative means for releasing said brake onthe movement of a part of said phonograph, and means for also manuallyoperating one of said means from the exterior of the cabinet. i

2. A brake mechanism forphonographs', comprising a sliding clutchmember, a pivoted clutch member, a lever connected to one of said clutchmembers for bringing the clutch members into engagement, a leverconz'iecti-ng the other of such clutch members for throwing said membersout of engagement, and means connected to one of said levers formanually operating the same.

3. A brake mechanism for phonographs, comprising a sliding clutchmember, a pivoted clutch member, a lever connected to said slidin clutchmember, a'lever connected to said pivoted clutch member, means forautomatically operating said levers and means for also manuallyoperating said clutch disengaging lever. Y

1. In a phonograph the combination of a sliding clutch member adapted toengage the rotary disk of a phonograph, a swinging clutch member inposition to engage the sliding clutch member, a pivotally supportedlever system connected with the swinging clutch member and adapted to beoperated by a shiftable part of the phonograph.

5. In a phonograph the combination of a sliding clutch member adapted toengage the rotary disk of a phonograph, a swinging clutch member inposition to engage the sliding clutch member, a pivotally supportedlever system connected with the swinging clutch member and adapted to beoperated by a shiftable part of the phonograph, and means connected tothe swinging lever system and operative from the outside of thephonograph for manually releasing said clutch members.

6. In a phonograph the combination of a sliding clutch member adapted toengage the rotary disk of a phonograph, a swinging clutch member inposition to engage the sliding clutch member, a pivotally supportedlever system connected with the swinging clutch member and adapted to beoperated by a shiftable part of the phonograph, and a push rod connectedto the swinging lever system and operative from the outside of thephonograph for manually releasing said clutch members.

7. In a phonograph the combination of sliding clutch member adapted toengage the rotary disk of a phonograph, a swinging clutch member inposition to engage the sliding clutch member, a pivotally supportedlever system connected with the swinging clutch member and adapted to beoperated by a shiftable part of the phonograph, said lever systemincluding a pivotally connected lever adjustable to various sizes ofrecords and having an operative portion in position to be engaged by ashiftable part of the phonograph.

8. Ina phonograph the combination of a sliding clutch member adapted toengage the rotary disk of a phonograph, a swinging clutch member inposition to engage the sliding clutch member, a pivotally supportedlever system connected with the swinging clutch member and adapted to beoperated by a shiftable part of the phonograph, said lever systemincluding a pivotally connected lever adjustable to various sizes ofrecords and having an operative portion in position to be engaged by ashiftable part of the phonograph, and manually operative means extendingto the outside of the phonograph for also releasing said clutch members.

9. A phonograph having a rotary flanged disk, a brake mechanism thereforcomprislng a pivoted clutch member, a sliding clutch member havingmeansfor engaging the inner face of the flange of said disk, said clutchmembers having their clutch faces extending in a horizontal plane, meansfor bringing such clutch members into engagement, and means for throwingsuch clutch members out of engagement.

10. A phonograph having a rotary disk, a brake mechanism comprising apivoted clutch member, a sliding clutch member having means for engagingthe edge of said disk, automatically operative means for bringing saidclutch members into engagement, and automatically operative means forthrowing said clutch members out of engagement.

11. A brake mechanism for phonographs, comprising a sliding clutchmember, a pivoted clutch member, a bell-crank lever connected to one ofsaid clutch members for bringing the clutch members into engagement, anda lever connected to the other of said clutch members for throwing saidmembers out of engagement.

12. A brake mechanism for phonographs, comprising a sliding clutchmember, a pivoted clutch member, a bell-crank lever connected to one ofsaid clutch members for bringin the clutch members into engagement, alever connected to the other of said clutch members for throwing saidmembers out of engagement, and means for automatically operating saidlevers.

13. A brake mechanism for phonographs, comprising a sliding clutchmember, a pivoted clutch member, a bell-crank lever connected to saidsliding clutch member for bringing it into engagement with said pivotedclutch member, and a lever connected to said pivoted clutch member forthrowing said clutch members out of engagement.

14. A brake mechanism for phonographs, comprising a sliding clutchmember, a pivoted clutch member, a bell-crank lever connected to saidsliding clutch member for bringing it into engagement with said pivotedclutch member, a lever connected to said pivoted clutch member forthrowing said clutch members out of v engagement, and meansforautomatically operating said levers.

15. In a phonograph having atone arm, the combination of a brakemechanism comprising a sliding clutch member, a pivoted clutch member, abell-crank lever connected to one of said clutch members for bringingclutch members into engagement, a lever connected to said pivoted clutchmember for throwing said clutch members out of engagement, and meanscarried by said tone arm for automatically operating said levers on themovement of the tone arm in opposite directions.

17. A brake mechanism for phonographs, comprising a Sliding clutchmember, a pivoted clutch member, a bell-crank lever connected to one ofsaid clutch members for bringing the clutch members into engagement, alever connected to the other of said clutch members for throwing saidmembers out of engagement, and means for also manually operating one ofsaid levers.

18. A brake mechanism for .phonographs, comprising a sliding clutchmember, a pivoted clutch member, a bell-crank lever connected to one ofsaid clutch members for bringing the clutch members into engag ment, alever connected to the other of said clutch members for throwing saidmembers out of engagement, and a push rod connected to said last leverfor manually operating the same.

19. A brake mechanism for phonographs, comprising a sliding clutchn'iember, a pivoted clutch member, a bell-crank lever connected to saidsliding clutch member for bringing said clutch members into engagement,a lever connected to said pivoted clutch member for disengaging saidmembers, and a push rod connected to said clutch-disengaging lever formanually operating the same,

20. A brake mechanism for phonographs, comprising a sliding clutchmember, a pivoted clutchmember, a bell-crank lever connected to one ofsaid clutch members for bringing the clutch members into engage ment, alever connected to the other of said clutch members for disengaging saidmembers, means for automatically operating said levers, and means formanually operating one of said levers.

21. A brake mechanism for phonographs, comprising a sliding clutchmember, a pivoted clutch member, a bell-crank lever con-U nected to saidsliding clutch member for bringing the clutch members into engagement, alever. connected to said pivoted clutch member for disengaging saidmembers, means for automatically operating said levers, and means formanually opera-ting said clutch-disengaging lever. I

22. A brake mechanism for phonographs, comprising a sliding clutchmember, a pivoted clutch member, a bell-cranklever connected to saidsliding clutch member for bringingthe clutch members into engage ment, alever connected to said pivoted clutch member fordisengaging said members, means for automatically operating said levers, and a push rodconnected to said clutch-disengaging lever for manually operating thesame.

23. In a phonograph having a tone arm, the combination of a brakemechanism comprising a sliding clutch member, a pivoted clutch member, abell-crank lever connected to one of said clutch members for bringingthe clutch members into engagement, a lever connected to the other ofsaid clutch membars for disengaging said clutch members, and means foroperating said levers on the movement of the tone arm in oppositedirections.

24. In a phonograph having a tone arm, the combination of a brakemechanism comprising a sliding clutch member, a pivoted clutch. member,a bell-crank lever connected to one of said clutch members for bringingthe clutch members into engagement, a lever connected to the other of?said clutch mem-' bers for disengaging said clutch members, and meanscarried by the tone arm for op erating said levers on the movement ofthe tone arm in opposite directions.

25. In a phonograph havingatone arm, the combination of a brakemechanism com prising a sliding clutch member, a pivoted clutch member,a bell-crank lever connected to said sliding clutch member for bringingsaid clutch members into engagement, a lever connected to said pivotedclutch member for disengaging said members, and means'can ried by thetone arm for operating said levers on the moi'ementof the tone arm inopposite directions.

26. In a phonograph having a tone arm, the combination of a cabinet,brake mechanism comprising a sliding clutch member, a pivoted clutchmember, a bell-crank lever connected to said. sliding clutch member forbrin ing said clutch members into enga e ment, a lever connected to saidpivoted clutch member for disengaging said members, means carried by thetone arm -for op-. erating said levers on the movementof the tone arm inopposite directions, and a push rod connected to said clutch-disengaginglever for operating the same from outside of the cabinet. I,

- 27. In a phonograph, the combination of a brake adapted to bemaintained in opera-- tive position, a pair of clutch members adapted tomaintain said brake out of opera-- tion, a lever connected to one ofsaid clutch.

members for bringing said clutch members into engagement, a leverconnected to the other of said clutch members for disengaging saidmembers, said levers extending in the same direction from the clutchmembers, and means for automatically operating said levers.

28. In a phonograph having a turn table, the combinationof a slidingbrake member adapted to engage said turn table, a pivotally supportedmember adapted to cooperate therewith to hold the brake member out ofengagement with the turn table, said members extending toward each otherin substantial alinement, means operative by a part of the phonographmechanism for setting the brake mechanism and thereby releasing thebrake from the turn table, and means automatically operative by a partof the phonograph mechanism for releasing said brake thereby to permitit to engage the turn table, the said last two means including a pair oflevers connected with and extending in substantial parallelism from thesliding brake member and the pivoted member.

29. In a phonograph having a turntable, the combination of a brakeadapted to engage said turntable and having a hookshaped portion, ahookshaped member adapted to cooperate therewith to hold the brake outof engagement with the turntable, means automatically operative by apart of the phonograph mechanism for setting the brake mechanism andthereby releasing the brake from the turntable, means automati-' callyoperative by a part of the phonogra h mechanism for releasing said brakethere y to permit it to engage the turntable, and manually operativemeans for also releasing the brake thereby to permit it to engage theturntable.

30. In a phonograph having a turntable, the combination of a brakeadapted to engage said turntable and having a hookshaped portion, ahook-shaped member adapted to cooperate therewith to hold the brake outof engagement with the turntable, means automatically operative by apart of the phonograph mechanism for setting the brake mechanism andthereby releasing the brake from the turntable, means automaticallyoperative by a part of the phonograph mechanism for releasing said brakethereby to permit it to engage the turntable, manually operative meansfor also releasing the brake thereby to permit it to engage theturntable, and a push rod for operating said last means.

31. In a phonograph having a turntable, the combination of brakemechanism for said turntable and comprising means for Copies of thispatent may be obtained for automatically setting the brake mechanism andfor automatically releasing it and operative through a part of thephonograph mechanism, and means for also manually releasing said brakemechanism and operative from a point relatively remote from theturntable.

32. In a phonograph the combination of a sliding brake member having ahook formed end, a swinging member also having a hook formed end forengaging the hook of the sliding member, said hooks extending in ahorizontal plane, and a lever system connected with said swinging memherand in position to be operated by a shiftable part of the phonograph forreleasing the hooked ends.

33. In a phonograph the combination of a sliding brake member having ahook formed end, a swinging member also having a hook formed end forengaging the hook of the sliding member, said hooks extending in ahorizontal plane, and a lever system connected with said swinging memberand in position to be operated by a shiftable part of the phonograph forreleasing the hooked ends, said lever system including an adjustablemember adjustable for various sizes of records.

34:. In a phonograph the combination'of a sliding brake member having ahook formed end, a swinging member also having a hook formed end forengaging the hook of the sliding member, said hooks extending in ahorizontal plane, a lever system connected with said swlnging member andin position to be operated by a shiftable part of the phonograph forreleasing the hooked ends, and manually operative means extending to theoutside of the phonograph for also releasin said hook formed members.

35. n a phonograph the combination of a pair of cooperating members, oneforming a brake for the rotatingdisk of the phonograph, and means forshifting the other member thereby to release the brake, said meansincluding an adjustable member in position to be engaged by a shiftablepart of the phonograph and pivotally connected to said brake releasingmeans and maintained in any of its adjusted positions by its frictionalengagement with the means to which it is pivotally connected, whereby itmay be adjusted for different sizes of records without the direct manualmanipula- PETER s. DUFFY.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington,D. 0.

